Saturday, April 10, 2010

Terrible news to hear first thing in the morning

I feel this deserves a post, although I have little additional to say about it. The President of Poland, and many other senior government officials were killed in a plane crash in Russia. Hard to say how this tragedy will effect the international scene, I'd guess it will worsen relations between Russia and Eastern Europe but this isn't a remarkable change from the status quo. It makes an already tragic situation moreso that this occurs during an effort for Russia to recognize the crimes of the Soviet Union and improve ties with Poland. Mostly though, I just wish the Polish people the best getting through this tragedy.

I also can't help but reflect briefly on the difference in political culture, in Poland, they are mourning the loss of their "intellectual elite" or "intellectual class." Hardly the terms we would use in a time of national mourning. Poland has always been a remarkable country yet their history seems to have more than its fair share of tragedies.

1 comment:

  1. Agreed. Years and years ago, I signed up for CNN breaking news email notifications which have since come several times a day and never once communicated anything important I hadn't heard somewhere else. Until this morning when I cussed. The Kascynzkis sounded kind of flawed but mostly constructive and I wish everyone the best.

    But my second thought, if cussing can stand as a first thought, was that nobody dies in an accident in Russia.

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